University of Missouri

SportsBeat KC: At Mizzou, a new football season comes with a new athletic director

Football camp is back at Mizzoui.
Football camp is back at Mizzoui. Mizzou Athletics

Well, that was quick.

Two weeks after Missouri announced that Jim Sterk was stepping down as athletic director, the university found a successor in Desiree Reed-Francois, who has spent the previous five years at UNLV. She’ll become the first woman to lead the Tigers’ athletic department.

On today’s episode of SportsBeat KC, The Star’s daily podcast, Briar Napier, who has covered the Tigers for The Star, joins host Blair Kerkhoff to talk about the hiring of Reed-Francois. Also discussed: The opening of MU football camp. Head coach Eliah Drinkwitz and defensive coordinator Steve Wilks spent time with reporters last week; hear what they had to say about the upcoming season.

Story links:

Five things to know about Desiree Reed-Francois

Missouri Tigers hire first woman as athletic director, UNLV’s Desiree Reed-Francois

“We got to improve,” Eliah Drinkwitz on Missouri’s first preseason practice

Blair Kerkhoff
The Kansas City Star
Blair Kerkhoff has covered sports for The Kansas City Star since 1989. He was elected to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2023.
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